The source of this story is an interesting man named Dayne Chastain. He and his brother Jett have treasure-hunted throughout Oklahoma and surrounding states. They have a network of treasure-hunting buddies and have amassed scores of fascinating tales about their finds. Dayne has compiled many of these stories in his book, Follow the Signs. One chapter deals with a friend’s find that eventually involved Chastain, many university professors, the media and some say dark, sinister forces. Had the events not involved the actual, physical examination of the thing in question, these accounts would have been dismissed as nothing more than science fiction.

The tale begins in a deeply wooded area near Charleston, Arkansas, about thirty-seven miles from Fort Smith. On November 17, 1991, a man was bow-hunting for deer on land owned by a friend. The land owner warned the hunter to keep an extra eye out for a bold brahma bull that had free rein of the property. Perhaps it was this extra vigilance that caused the man to notice something strange out of the corner of his eye. He walked past it for several yards, until it occurred to him just how strange it was. Returning to the site, he confirmed what he had seen – the remains of some unusual creature, lying under a tree, partially covered with leaves. The man, whose anonymity I’ll respect, described his experience to Chastain, “it was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen some strange things. It was pretty well decomposed when I first found it, but it still had flesh and hair attached. It was later estimated to have been dead between five to six weeks.

“It was long in body like a deer or giant dog, but its legs and arms weren’t like a normal animal’s. Instead of paws or hooves, it had what looked like strange malformed hands.

“It had sharp teeth, definitely not a cow or a deer, but they were of a peculiar shape that didn’t resemble any wolf or bear that I’d ever seen.”

“The skull wasn’t long like an animal’s. It was shorter in the muzzle like an ape – or a man’s.”

The most unusual feature of the carcass was a ridge of bone rising from its spine like a dorsal fin. The finder reported it caused a chill to run down the back of his neck.